PEORIA — The intensity of some public reaction to Mayor Jim Ardis’ efforts against a parody Twitter account doesn’t appear to be abating.

Much of it seems more heated and pointed, if the City Council meeting Tuesday night was any indication.

“Your actions have had the absolute real effect of chilling speech, and for that alone, you should be forced out of office,” Peoria resident Scott Jacobs told Ardis during the public-comment portion of the meeting.

Greg Daniel, father of Twitter account creator Jon Daniel, also called for Ardis to step down as mayor.

“You can’t use the Peoria police as your own Gestapo,” the elder Daniel said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union stated its intention to sue the city and possibly the mayor on behalf of Jon Daniel. It’s alleged police violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights during an investigation and subsequent residential raid last month in pursuit of the source of the Twitter account.

Ardis advocated prosecution of the case. Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady declined to file charges against Jon Daniel. But one of his housemates, Jacob Elliott, was indicted Tuesday on marijuana-possession charges.

The Twitter issue was the main focus for almost all of the seven people who addressed the council. The public-comment period didn’t begin until about four hours into a meeting that began at6:15 p.m. The scenario was similar to that of the previous council meeting, held April 22.

The late hour didn’t appear to dull criticisms of Ardis, who was silent for almost all of the comment period. Jacobs might have been the most vociferous in opposition.

“You have made people worried about what might happen to them if they dare to speak out and criticize you, and their fear of reprisal is not unjustified,” Jacobs said to Ardis.

“What a lot of people think of you now is that you’re a small, petty, thin-skinned and vindictive man who appears to have never learned what the phrase ‘freedom of speech’ actually means.”

South Peoria neighborhood activist LaVetta Ricca was one of two speakers who defended Ardis or decried the attention the issue has received.

“I think it’s a pretty sick, dirty, rotten shame that someone in this city can hide behind the First Amendment and cause havoc on a man that’s given so much of his time, of his life to this city,” Ricca said.

“You didn’t start this problem. ... (Jon Daniel) started all this.”

Nick Vlahos can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.